The Stolen Ruby
by Mistress Belladonna Black
Summary: When Mrs. Lovett is taken by a group of men who saw Sweeney "taking care" of a customer how will he react? Will he be able to put aside his mission of revenge to save his accomplice and perhaps find something else as well?
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: So I've been wanting to put up a new story recently and after watching "Sweeney Todd" a few dozen or so times while painting (I am not kidding! it's almost sick how many times I've watched it recently!) anyways...so this is going to be a first for me, I usually don't post things until the story is completely written (which leads me to why I don't have a lot of my stories posted...I can never be completely happy with them so I just leave them to rot and take up memory on my computer) :(

I don't own Sweeney Todd, if I did I'm sure Helena and I would be best of friends and I wouldn't have to put up posters and talk to myself. (is that weird?) (I'm really not that creepy but this just makes me sound like a stalker...which I'm not)

Anyways...I hope you enjoy this story and since it's not done I have no clue how long it will be! this is an adventure, hope you stick around to enjoy it with me!

BTW: Lucy is really dead in this one. And I cannot write a cockney accent. I will try a little bit but you're probably going to have to imagine it. Sorry!

The Stolen Ruby

Eleanor Lovett moved easily through the crowd at St. Dunstan's market place late in the day. It was nearing evening and she noticed the gray clouds that hung low overhead. Quickly gathered her groceries, she began the 15 minute walk home.

Glancing up at the steadily darkening skies she quickened her pace towards her warm pie shop. Just as the burgundy haired woman turned onto Fleet Street she heard the sharp clap of thunder overhead just before the clouds released their heavy down onslaught of rain upon the people of London.

Picking up her brightly colored skirts she raced the last few blocks home before quickly dashing into the darkened entrance of her home and shop.

"Toby?" She called out, setting the basket down onto the clean countertop. Wondering why the candles hadn't been lit, she made her way back to her parlor looking to see if her boy had drunken himself into a stupor again. The poor lad seemed to do that a lot. "Toby?" her voice echoed silently in the house and for some unknown reason she shivered. Walking into the dimly lit parlor she made her way over to the fireplace which was giving off a soft glow from the dying embers, she did not see her adoptive son at his usual place. She grabbed a candle from the mantle and lit it. Becoming worried Nellie walked down the dark hallway which lead to the boy's room.

She opened the door and peered inside, hoping to see the outline of his small body bundled up beneath his blankets. She sighed in relief when she saw him fast asleep, holding a bottle of gin precariously in his fingertips. Tip toeing into the room she grabbed the bottle from the boys loose grip. Smoothing the hair away from his forehead she kissed him and thought just how thankful she was to have the small lovable child in her life.

Taking the bottle with her she closed the door and made her way back into the gray kitchen. The dim light from outside cast an eerie glow to the kitchen and she shuddered again. Thinking it was because of her damp clothing, she set the gin bottle down, lit a few candles to illuminate her work area and decided to go change before unloading the groceries from the large basket.

Mrs. Lovett walked into her bedroom, which was right off of the parlor, and lit more candles using the one she still carried with her from the mantle. She hummed softly under her breath as she took off the damp dress and undergarments and put on a new outfit. It was one of her favorites, a dark red taffeta trimmed with black lace. Fixing her hair in the mirror she smiled at herself before heading back to her kitchen, leaving the candle behind.

As she walked down the short passage way from the parlor she noticed that the kitchen was dark again even though she had just lighted the candles before she changed. She shivered again and advanced slowly, unsure if something awaited her or if the candles had both just died out. She entered the kitchen and kept her back to the wall, it had grown dark outside and so there was not light in the sinister kitchen. She reached where she knew one of the candles lay and began making her way back to the parlor to light it.

Once in the passageway she hastily flew to the fireplace and lit the candle. The little light didn't do much for her frazzled nerves. Making her way back to the kitchen she went to cross to the other candles but as she drew to the center of the room she heard the soft moan of the floorboards behind her seconds before something heavy hit her in the back of the head. Mrs. Lovett fell to the ground in heap, causing the light to go out and she fell unconscious as she was lifted up by two men and taken out of the dark, now empty, pie shop.


	2. Holding on

Sweeney Todd lay stiffly across his small cot that was tucked out of view in the bedroom adjacent to his barber shop. He eyed the large bed that lay moldering on the other side of the room before his gaze fell back to the picture frame he held. The blonde angels stared out at him, their smiles bright and beautiful. He moved his head to stare at the ceiling above him.

He couldn't do it.

Sweeney Todd could not remember Lucy Barker.

He couldn't remember what her laugh sounded like, what her hair felt like when he ran his fingers through it. If her skin was soft. What she smelled like. He couldn't recall if she like roses or daffodils. He couldn't remember if she had any type of birthmark on her skin.

Taking another glance at the picture he realized he could only recall one aspect about his late wife once he looked away from the picture.

She had yellow hair.

He heard Mrs. Lovett's voice down stairs calling out for the boy. After a pause it came through again, sounding soft, almost unworldly, through the sounds of London getting ready for the night and the floorboards that separated them. He lost interest when he heard no other sounds and decided to get up. Not like he was sleeping anyway.

The cot creaked beneath him as Sweeney got up from its small must mattress. Still holding the aging silver frame he made his way through the doorway that separated the decaying apartment from the tonsorial shop.

He looked longingly at the pictures before turning his gaze to the mostly empty street below him. The street lamps flickered inconsistently, casting eerie shadows against the damp buildings that surrounded Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium.

A small coach came slowly down Fleet Street, approaching the pie shop at the corner. It's driver was unaware of the man watching him from the darkened window above as he pulled the horse to a stop just around the corner.

With nothing else to look at in the empty street, Sweeney moved to the window next to the small stove, just to take a look. He wasn't concerned about the coach, but it was something to look at, because for once he wasn't focused on the Judge. He was just simply there for once, and it bothered him.

The horse shifted its weight and snorted. The black haired man watched as the driver looked around himself worriedly before looking at the pie shop door that was right below where Sweeney stood. It was this move that made Sweeney furl his brow in confusion. What could the man below want with the pie shop? He clicked opened up the razor he held firmly in his pale hand and started moving towards the his shop door when movement below stopped him from moving away to see what was going on below him.

The Emporium door opened up, two men emerged carrying something between them, Sweeney couldn't quite see what it was...until light from a street lam illuminated the deep red hair of their captive.

Mrs. Lovett.

Sweeney Todd ran from the window, wrenching open the shop door he had never bothered to lock. "Mrs. Lovett!" he yelled as he came barreling down the stairs, taking two and three at a time. Just as he was going to run out into the street the carriage leapt to life, bolting down Fleet Street. Flinging himself as quickly as he could Sweeney grabbed hold of the unlighted fixture and held on tightly.

Latching himself as well as he could to the side of the swiftly moving coach Sweeney Todd looked into the window at the back. Red hair and pale skin met his gaze just seconds before the carriage took a sharp turn almost dislodging the barber from his precarious position.

Holding onto the fixture with his right hand Sweeney swung down with his left, bringing the blade to slice through part of the back panel as he attempted to stay on.

The carriage made another turn but this time Sweeney was unable to keep his one handed grip and he fell. The razor fell from his hand as he hit the ground and rolled painfully end over end several times before coming to a stop in the middle of the damp street. Sitting up Sweeney watched as the coach swung around another corner, taking with it his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett.

For the first time since his return to London, Sweeney Todd had no idea what to do.

Getting up painfully he grabbed the discarded razor, checking its edge he noted that it had lost a piece of the edge when it hit the cobblestones. With another look at the direction he had last seen the carriage he began his way back home to figure out what to do.

The only thing he knew was that when he got his hands on the people responsible for Mrs. Lovett's kidnapping they would pay with their lives. Of that he was sure.

Grimacing against the dull pain he felt in places he had hit against the cobblestoned street Sweeney Todd disappeared into the shadows of London...


End file.
